When It Rains
by Lady Seraphina Lightwood
Summary: On being tossed into a dungeon, Peter finds himself sharing a cell with a pretty, if somewhat odd, girl. He befriends her quickly, but on finding himself falling for her, he has to wonder - why was she thrown into the dungeon in the first place?
1. Captured

**[A/N] Well I'm back from my unannounced hiatus with a new story for you. **

**[Disclaimer]: I don't own the Chronicles of Narnia. I only own my OC, Seraphina.**

**When It Rains**

"I'm sure they would be quite pleased to have you, their High King, try this."

Peter stared down into the cup at the golden liquid and shrugged a little to himself. _Why not? _He asked himself, figuring it couldn't do any harm. If the dryads had really spent so long on this drink, it couldn't hurt to try it.

And he downed the liquid.

It wasn't bad, really. It had a pleasant buttery taste to it that actually left him wanting more. As the faun smiled, bowed, and departed, he drank the remnants of it and set the glass aside, returning his attention to the festivities.

Soon, feeling oddly tired, he informed Edmund that he was going to bed early and rose, heading out to the hallway. He made his way up a staircase, toward his room, and then stopped as a surge of gripping, painful nausea seized him.

"Oh…"

Peter staggered back, left hand flying up to grasp at a railing in order to prevent himself from falling. The ground under his feet felt as if it were moving.

When the nausea subsided, at least a little, he managed to get the rest of the way upstairs. There, he fell to his knees and retched.

Nothing came up. His stomach felt hollow and empty. Pressing his hands to his face, they felt icy against his hot cheeks. What was happening? Minutes ago he'd been fine.

"King Peter?"

Looking up, it was the faun who'd given him the drink earlier.

"Are you okay?" The faun didn't wait for an answer. "I will assist you. Allow me to help you to your room, sire."

Maybe if he'd been feeling better, more alert, he would've seen the malicious intent sparking in the faun's eyes. Then again, maybe not.

"Okay. Fine. Thank you." Peter took the faun's offered hand and stood again.

A painful tingling, like nerves waking up, was spreading through them. The ground moved again.

The faun did not walk in the direction of Peter's room. Instead, he gave him a hard shove toward the stairs again.

"I apologize for this, Majesty."

Peter tried to ask what he meant by that, but the darkness was rushing up too fast.

The last thing he felt was the floor meeting him as he fell.

* * *

The next thing he was aware of was a soft humming, and warm fingers brushing against his skin. With the frigid air, they felt good.

"Mm…."

He opened his eyes to semi-darkness. Above him he could see a familiar sight – the ceiling of a dungeon. _Wonderful._ Trying to remember how he might have gotten here, he drew a blank.

"Edmund?" He tried to sit up. Was Edmund here somewhere?

The warm hand pushed him back to the floor. "Stay _still_." The voice was female. "And don't move until I'm done, got it? They really did a number on you when they tossed you in here with me."

Peter looked around to find the source of the voice. Crouched beside him was a girl of maybe seventeen. She was the one touching him, busy doing something to his side, which was now stinging furiously, undoubtedly just because he now knew about whatever injury was there. Remembering she'd said not to rise, he settled with studying her.

This girl had pale skin, which he could assume was from being trapped in a dungeon. Her hair cascaded in red curls down her back. From what he could see, she was thin and underfed, which he'd expected.

"There," she said, distracting him. Peter looked up to meet her eyes and found they were a dark shade of blue. "Go on and sit up."

Carefully, he did so, and was surprised to find it didn't hurt him.

"What's your name?" she asked abruptly.

"I am High King Peter." He held out his hand.

The girl just arched an eyebrow and didn't take it. "_High King? _So you are one of the Four." She grinned. "How'd you end up down here then?"

"I don't know how I got down here. I just – I don't know." He sighed and dropped his hand. This girl was peculiar. At least she seemed friendly. "May I ask your name, Lady?"

"Seraphina."


	2. Introductions

**[A/N] This is a short filler chapter. Next chapter, all hell breaks loose.**

**When It Rains**

**Chapter 2**

"So, _High King, _how did you end up down here with the worst of us?" Seraphina settled back against the wall and smirked at him.

Peter only stared for a long moment. He couldn't say he very much appreciated her mockery, but there was nothing to help it.

"Well? Hmm… captured? In a battle? Out of your bedroom? On a trip?" She ticked them off on her fingers.

"Yes, I was captured. I was drugged and then brought here."

"Well, that's a boring way to go, don't you think?"

He couldn't repress a sigh of exasperation. One minute she seemed so…sarcastic. The next…she was endearingly childlike. He didn't understand her at all.

"Seraphina?"

She was on her feet and pacing, peering out the barred window in their door. "Yes, King Peter?"

"Where exactly are we?"

A little puzzled, she looked at him. "In a dungeon, in Narnia of course."

"In Narnia?"

Seraphina tapped her foot impatiently. "Yes, yes, we're in Narnia. Where did you think?"

Peter chose to ignore this comment. "And who's brought us here?"

At his question, irritation flashed in her eyes. He seemed to have struck a nerve. "Well, how should I know?" She turned back to the window now.

But Peter couldn't shake off the feeling this last wasn't true.


	3. Escape

[A/N] This is Peter's fifth day in the dungeon.

**Chapter 3**

Peter woke from his sleep at the sound of the door opening. He looked up to see light from a torch illuminating the cell. This was the only light they had, and they got to see it once a day, when the guards brought their meal. This meal consisted of a square of something that was about as hard as a brick, and tasted no better than one. He sometimes did manage to get a bite down.

Seraphina stood, glaring at the guard as he neared them. "Come one step closer to him, you cad."

"Quiet, girl." The guard struck her, simultaneously coming closer to Peter, and that was it. Seraphina exploded.

A mountain of white and gray rose up between him and the guard, the cell suddenly echoing with snarls. Peter found himself scrambling backwards in alarm, not understanding what was happening.

He threw his hands up in front of his face to protect himself, instinctively. There were terrible noises, ripping and snapping, coming from in front of him, and despite being a battle-hardened warrior, he couldn't make himself look.

Then they ceased.

There was a gurgling, a long, faint sigh and then silence.

Something warm and wet touched his upraised hand. Slowly, he lowered them.

There was an enormous wolf in front of him. It was gray and white, the face shaped in a feminine way, and absolutely beautiful. But it was the eyes that startled him.

Her eyes were a clear blue. A blue that had grown familiar to him, in however long he'd been here.

"Sara…Seraphina."

Her jaws fell open in a wolfy grin for a moment, and then Seraphina nudged him to his feet, turning toward the still open door.

"I can find our way out."

He gasped, stepping back, and then could've slapped himself. Of course she could still talk as a …wolf. This was Narnia.

"Come on, _High King. _I'm leaving this place with or without you." Seraphina was already heading out the door. Peter hurried after her.

"Sara! Wait for me."

* * *

(Two days later)

It was Susan who met them at the door, rather than Edmund, who had Peter had been desperately been wanting, or Lucy.

"Are you alright, Peter?" she worried, pulling him close to her and looking him up and down.

"I'm fine, Su. I'm hardly even bruised."

Her eyes fell on Seraphina.

"Oh…hello there. Who have you brought with you, Peter?"

"Where are my manners?" he sighed and stepped back to Seraphina's side. "This, Susan, is my – well, my cellmate. Her name is Seraphina Lightwood, and she took very good care of me."

Susan managed to smile for her.

"Well Lady Lightwood, I will see to it that your rooms are made ready. Welcome to Cair Paravel. " She turned to Peter without waiting for Seraphina's response, her face paling.

"Peter, I…"

"What is it, Su?" He moved forward again, alarmed.

"Oh, Peter, Lucy took ill with the typhoid last week. I just thought I should tell you."

"Typhoid? Is she well?"

"She's recovering, Peter, but…"

"But what?" An awful thought occurred to him. "Edmund! He isn't ill too?"

"Edmund fell sick yesterday. He's so very much worse."


	4. Beautiful

**Chapter 4**

Peter's shoulders slumped as he left Edmund's room. His little brother was currently delirious, staring at the wall with blank eyes and mumbling softly, the words falling from his lips unrecognizable.

Seraphina waited out in the corridor, studying a dagger held in one hand. He couldn't repress a feeling of slight unease on seeing her with the knife, knowing very well how dangerous she appeared to be _without _one.

She looked up as he came out, walking over to her slowly. "Well? How is he?"

"He's delirious," Peter answered, and offered his arm. "Would you like for me to show you the room Susan has set up for you?"

She took his arm with surprisingly gentle hands. He wouldn't have expected anything about her to be soft, by her usual attitude, but she was soft now. She was…._relaxed, _his mind supplied the word, and he realized he'd never seen her even close to being this off-guard before. When she relaxed like this, her face fell into soft lines, giving her the sweet and helpless look the ladies usually had.

But he wouldn't dare to tell her that, for she would kill him if he did.

He continued to look at her face as they walked. How was it that he hadn't noticed how beautiful she was before?

After a moment of this, her lips curled into a smile. Peter couldn't help but smile in response, so taken was he by her sudden charm.

"See something special?" Her tone had her usual bite, her mockery, in it now.

"I think I do."

Seraphina looked at him, regarding him curiously, but didn't speak. He glanced away, cheeks burning. What was wrong with him?

At last they came to a stop in front of her door. He opened it for her and guided her into the room.

She appraised it. "It's nice," she said, and rewarded him with a smile. "I like it, King Peter."

Peter's spirits plummeted. "Please, Lady."

"What is it?" She turned.

"I would…I would appreciate it if you didn't refer to me as 'King Peter'. I want to stay Peter, Lady Lightwood. Why change it just because we're in Cair Paravel?"

"If you want to stay Peter," she said waspishly, "Then you will continue to call me Seraphina and cut it out with the 'Lady Lightwood' nonsense. Why change it when we're in Cair Paravel?"

He couldn't help but grin at her obvious mockery of his words.

"Won't you sit a moment with me, Seraphina? I would like to speak with you."

Seraphina's blue eyes turned wary, but she took a seat on a little gold sofa. He followed.

"I want to know," he said, serious now, "about you…before. Seraphina, I have to know why you were put into that dungeon."

**That's it for this chapter, folks. **

**As to Peter's sudden noticing of her looks, the answer is that she decided to make him notice. Seraphina was raised a lady, and she knows how to use her charms, though it may not seem like it sometimes. :P **

**I'm going to be posting a new fic about her backstory. It will be up soon, so stay tuned.**


	5. Answers

**[A/N] Here it is, folks. Long overdue update for this. Warning, spoilers for **_**Go Where No One Can Hear Me.**_

**Chapter 5**

Seraphina was silent for a long moment, merely staring at her hands, and then she nodded slightly.

"I will tell you, Peter, because I have no choice in it."

"I'm truly sorry. I just have to make sure you aren't a criminal or threatening –"

"I understand. Quiet."

After another minute of silence, she spoke again, and began to tell her story.

* * *

"I'm not going to tell you all of it right now, Peter, but I will tell you from a certain point." Her voice was soft and cold.

"My parents died when I was just a little girl. I lived with Oreius's parents - Captain Cadfael and his wife Selene, right up until the beginning of the White Witch's rule. Selene died right in the start. I think it broke Cadfael's heart.

I joined the Resistance as well, my best friend Cicero and I." Seraphina's eyes turned slightly sad. "We were the terrors of the Narnian army. I truly think the Witch's followers feared us. I was undefeated. Sure, I had been wounded, but not defeated. No one knew quite what to do with me, because I could shift from human to wolf or wolf to human in seconds. Unpredictable.

Cicero got turned to stone in a battle. We went back to try and retrieve him, see if there was anything to be done, but his statue was gone, so I suppose she took it. Then Cadfael died too, by her Minotaur general. Oreius was all I had left and I was all he had."

"Were you close to Oreius?" Peter broke in.

"Very. Remember, I lived with him and his parents for about ten years. He was like a brother to me. I haven't spoken to him in seventy years, but I'm getting to the point. Patience."

Seraphina paused now, editing bits and pieces that she just couldn't bring herself to share.

"Here, we're going to skip a few years. They're personal. So about two years after that, the Witch caught me. I was held captive for a very long time, until I escaped. I was hiding until I heard about you and your siblings, at which point I rejoined the Resistance."

"I don't remember seeing you." Peter frowned.

"Yes, because I remained in my wolf body the whole time. I didn't want to be recognized, not even by Oreius. I stayed at a distance from all of you, although I did have my own talk with Aslan. I was at the Battle of Beruna, when one of Her followers recognized me and took me captive. Though She was dead, I was thrown back into a dungeon…kept there for years and years….until you came."

She looked at Peter.

"Do you understand why now?"

"I don't."

"One, because I was so terrifying." Here she flashed her teeth. "Two, because I was a shape-shifter., an unknown species. Good night, Peter."


End file.
